C&SI - Summer Reflections Series 2026 - "Faith & Care for our Planet" - 6 Sept 2026 (S06E40b) (podcast excerpt)

0:00So welcome back again to the second part of Comuncy Inspiration's My Name is John Keely, still joined by Jean Ebros. And we're going to bring another recording from some of the recordings we had in the various Navinans and talks that happened throughout the year. This particular week it being the year of creation, the month of creation as shown just reminded us earlier on, we'll take one that Sister Betty Baker, a reflection Sister Betty Baker gave us from the Camarachnauina in counter-Lemic entitled Faith and Care for Our Planet. And we've had that via PC Music by Marty Hogan entitled The Canticle of the Son. But first of all let's listen to Sister Betty Baker. Good evening to everybody. Good evening, please.

1:00I was just thinking as I drove out of a beautiful part of the country it is and it was lovely to be driving out from the city and to be coming into such peace, beautiful trees and then a few years ago in the distance. So maybe as we begin this little reflection on caring for our planet and our faith, the stock of where you're actually living and to appreciate its beauty, it's a gift. A gift that not everybody enjoys in particularly the southern hemisphere of our world. And talking about faith and caring for the planet, it's a huge issue. But I want to thank you for your time. Home, the world in which we live. And our faith reminds us again and again that we are custodians, we are stewards really

2:08of this world. Now we have a clear moral obligation to ensure that everyone has access to its abundant resources. Each point three billion people share this common home. Just think about it. Each point three people share this common home. And even though we may feel very much on our own, we are all connected and that is huge implications for us. We can no longer walk away, no longer say that it's not of my business, no longer just ignore the implications that degradation of the earth affects, especially the poorest people. And how do we connect it with our faith? My emphasis this evening is on faith as a spirituality.

3:15As a path we walk as our way of living, a way of being that believes that God cares about what is happening just now, that Jesus is forever active in our world. And that faith and belief not only changes my heart but changes my lifestyle. So we allow God to happen and how does he happen? He happens through us. Wherever we are, God is acting in us. He has no other way of acting in our world today. The scripture readings this evening, though written thousands of years apart, call us to nature. Ask the beasts and they will tell you. Let nature speak. And it is shout, but can we hear its cry?

4:19Can we also hear the cry of the poor? All throughout the gospels, Jesus has really clued into the natural world and he uses images as you heard read in the gospel from nature as examples of truths and lessons he wanted to teach. His parables of our God's reign are nature-based. He spoke about farmers sowing seeds, about vineyards, wheat and chaff, fig trees, mulberry bushes, harvest and fruit trees' storms. He made a wide reference to animals and the life of nature, the birds of the air, sheep and goats, fish pigs. He let nature speak. And he himself withdrew to the mountains to pray. Many times he taught people from a boat on the lake and he experienced being in the desert.

5:19He was a great person. Respect the rhythms of the earth. And our own lives reflect these rhythms too. We go through periods of growth, as in spring, of action, as in summer, of rest as in autumn, and in letting go as in winter. I just went to high like three areas. One very broad, I'm just going to pose a question. We could be answering it for months and years. And it's our responsibility to future generations. It's the big question and it's this. What kind of world do we want to live to those who come after us? To the children who are now growing up to unborn generations.

6:23It's the big picture question that could rest in our hearts. Pope Francis said, from God's hands we have received a garden. We cannot leave a desert to our children. The second point I want to make is about our faith in action. Our care for the earth has to show itself in how we act, in how we behave. And I know that all of you, probably most people, are very conscious today of particular actions that impact. I'm just going to mention four. To avoid overconsumption and excessive shopping. Only by what we need and try to live simply. Support those who produce food locally.

7:26It's vitally important. So trees, especially native trees, is one of our greatest gifts to the planet, where there are trees that are in countries where there are three projects going on. And give room for biodiversity in your garden patch, in a local park, or in your local graveyard. These are very impactful, among very impactful actions. The third area I want to mention is our own spiritual path, because I think our own spiritual path affects everything else, the actions we do, and how we think about our wider world. This beautiful church on what you're doing, so much work at the moment, is a symbol of God's presence. It's a sacred place of worship for centuries.

8:29Outside and surrounding area, we have another beautiful cathedral, the cathedral of creation. Also a sign of God's presence. God has written a precious book where the leisure is at a multitude of created things. From panoramic vistas to the tiniest life form, nature is a source of constant wonder and awe. There is a divine manifestation in the blaze of the sun and the fall of the night, their words of Pope Francis. But he also reminded us that the greatest crisis today for us is a spiritual crisis. And that's why I say that our own spiritual path, our own faith path, is the most important one. He spoke of the many deserts in the world, and he commented that the greatest desert is very often found within our own hearts.

9:33So what's the antidote to today's hectic pace? Its stillness, its quiet, its reflection, its contemplation. So make time to look at the beauty around you, to be silent, to appreciate, to allow one renore to overtake you, because nature speaks to us of the presence of God and inspires us to pray. Reject the constant hustle of life and embrace slowness. We are not achievement machines, though we offer act as if we are. Resist constant speed, breathe, adopt times of stillness. Two predominant ailments of our time are, as you well know, anger and anxiety.

10:36We experience these as individuals, and as a result we are experiencing them in our own country and on a global scale. So be peaceful in thought, attitude and speech. Our attitude and words have a far reaching effect. There can be an antidote to the words of violence, war, exclusion and rejection. That's so many experience in our world today. Go for a walk in nature, be filled with wonder and all at the beauty of us, and pass this gift unto your children and your grandchildren. Read nature poetry. Stay with it. Save it. Save it out loud and let it sit in your heart. Pray it.

11:36And for those of you who might be interested in nature poetry, James has a little booklet that he'll distribute at the end of the mass today, and if he shard he makes them available during the week. And then we know that our own Irish heritage, our own poetry, our own Irish spirituality is full of nature poems. Poem is the talk to us that our science of God's presence in nature. And I'm going to finish with one that you will all know by heart and will be very familiar to us. Joseph Mary Plunkus won among many. I see his blood upon the rose and in the stars the glory of his eyes. His body gleams amid eternal snows. His tears fall from the skies. I see his face in every flower the thunder and the singing of the birds

12:41our bodies voice and caravan by his power. Rocks are his written words. All pathways by his feet are worn. His strong heart stores the everbeating sea. His crown of thorns is tined with every torn. His cross is every tree. So let the words of the poem sit on your heart. And maybe some thought will echo with you as you reflect on your own spiritual path in particular. Maybe actions that you might take up and the big question of our legacy to future generations. Thank you.

13:50And sing to the glory of the Lord. And sing to the glory of the Lord. Raise for the sun the bringer of day. He carries the light of the Lord in his rays. The moon and the stars who light up the wave. Unto your throne. The heavens are telling the glory of God. The glory is telling the glory. Compancing the forest, the pain of the ill. And sing to the glory of the Lord. Raise for the wind the clouds through the trees. The seas might each storm the gentle spring.

14:52They blow where they will, they blow where they please. We love. The heavens are telling the glory of God. The glory is telling the glory. Compancing the forest, the pain of the ill. And sing to the glory of the Lord. Raise for the rain that waters are fields. And this is our crop so all the earth heals. From death unto life, from mystery revealed. Screams forth in joy. The heavens are telling the glory of God. The glory is telling the shouting for God.

15:52Compancing the forest, the pain of the ill. And sing to the glory of the Lord. Raise for the earth, who makes life the brood. The creatures you make to let your life show. The flowers and trees that help us to know the heart of God. The heavens are telling the glory of God. And the creation is shouting for God. Compancing the forest, the pain of the ill. And sing to the glory of the Lord. Sing to the glory of the Lord.

17:03The heavens are telling the glory of God.